1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to an optical recording medium, and more particularly, to a storage medium in which information can be stored by exposure to a focused laser beam.
2. Description of Prior Art
There have been known in the art optical recording media which result in the removal of material in regions approximating the diffraction-limited spot size of the recording laser. While high contrast between the written and unwritten areas has generally been achieved, the signal-to-noise ratio has been limited in some cases by edge effects around the periphery of the spots, which cause some scattering of the read beam. Additionally, these media, such as those based on Te and Te alloys, suffer from corrosion effects.
There have also been known a number of other optical recording media and other means of marking these media; however, the ones of these media which have achieved long-life recording of information have required higher laser power levels than is desirable, i.e., higher than that achieved with Te-based alloys.